Here's why Big John McCarthy thinks the UFC will cut Tony Ferguson
John McCarthy believes Tony Ferguson's time as a UFC fighter is over.
At UFC 256, Ferguson lost a clear-cut decision to Charles Oliveira. Not only did he lose, but "El Cucuy" lost all three rounds and was nearly finished in the first round.
With Ferguson now on a two-fight losing streak, McCarthy believes El Cucuy will be among the 60 fighters cut by the UFC.
Big John McCarthy wouldnât be surprised if Tony Ferguson was among the UFC cuts following his latest setback.
Ferguson suffered his second defeat in a row after a lopsided unanimous decision defeat to Charles Oliveira in their UFC 256 co-headliner this past weekend.
âI think theyâre going to cut him,â McCarthy said on his Weighing In podcast with Josh Thomson (via TheBodyLock). âI could be wrong about that but the reason I say it is first off, Tony has always had an adversarial relationship with certain people with the UFC. Heâs felt like heâs been held back, cheated in certain things. And so you have that. Thatâs okay, you can say those things when youâre winning.
âBut now you take a look at his last two performances â the Justin Gaethje fight, he fought his ass off but he got beat badly. And now this one, he got beat badly. So you look at your lightweights and you go, âalright, is Tony Ferguson going to be fighting for the title?â That ainât going to happen. You would figure he would have to win somewhere between four or five fights in a row against top talent and thatâs probably not going to happen.
âSo, heâs not going to fight for the title. So youâre going to keep him for what reasons now? So he can beat your young talent thatâs not smart and wise enough to fight with him at this time? Thatâs not going to do you any good as a promotion. So I donât know, I just look and say he might be one of the guys in that 60.â
John McCarthy's history with making predictions
John McCarthy normally uses his podcast to discuss controversial referee decisions and give his take on it. However, he has made predictions like this Ferguson one and has been right more often than not.
After the UFC tried to hold UFC 249 on April 18 and ultimately failed, McCarthy said the May 9 date would stay intact despite many thinking it wouldn't happen due to the pandemic.
However, the former ref was wrong in predicting Jon Jones would go to jail after he was arrested for DWI and negligent use of a firearm. The former light heavyweight champion ended up having to serve house arrest and escaped without any major penalties.
Finally, McCarthy was quite early on the McGregor bandwagon as he said over and over again the Irishman could fight, and it was only a matter of time before he became the champion. That, of course, came true as the Irishman would go on to win the featherweight and lightweight titles.